Help needed please

noendtoit

I'm hoping that someone can help with much needed advice for my son. He's worked as a self employed taxi driver for the past 2 years but for the last 18 months has had a medical problem which currently remains undiagnosed. This has meant that very often he is unable to work plus medication he is currently taking makes it impossible to drive. He is now at the stage where his mental health is suffering. He has a partner and 2 small children with no real income. Is there any help available for him?? Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

pmlindyloo

Difficult to answer without knowing further details - sorry.

Any eligible benefits are assessed on total household income so we would need to know about savings/whether partner worked/owning home/renting home.

If your son is unfit for work and he can get a fit note from his doctor then he can apply for Employment support Allowance. If he has paid enough NI contributions (class 2) then he might be entitled to contribution based ESA which is not means tested (does not take into account any savings or income from partner).

Other than that he would have to apply for income based benefits - ESA, housing benefit/council tax support/tax credits. All of which depend on savings/capital and income from partner.

I suggest he puts his details into the benefit calculator on https://www.entitledto.co.uk to see what benefits they may be able to get.

If they are already claiming tax credits then they should inform them of the change of circumstances. Ditto with HB and CT support.

If you can give us more details and need more help then please come back.

noendtoit

Thank you so much for your reply. His partner doesn't work, they have no savings and rent privately. His partner does get help with rent and council tax and I think she also gets tax credit. At the moment he is working when he can but because of this ongoing medical problem some weeks it only totals a matter of hours he can actually work. He is loathe to stop work completely as he rents his vehicle from a taxi firm and he would lose the vehicle. In my ignorance it seems to be a bit of a catch 22 situation. I am so desperately worried about him, sadly I am unable to give any financial help at the moment but would just like to point him in the right direction to get the help he needs

Caz3121

noendtoit wrote: »

His partner does get help with rent and council tax and I think she also gets tax credit. At the moment he is working when he can but because of this ongoing medical problem some weeks it only totals a matter of hours he can actually work.

Housing benefit and tax credits are based on household income
If his income and hours have reduced then they should advise tax credits and housing benefit. If they are receiving working tax credits and he is working under 24 hours a week then this would stop but depending on the income the award was based on and his estimated income for this tax year, the child tax credits may increase.
Housing benefit likewise will need the new income and new tax credits amount and will recalculate so they may get some more help there.
If he is working under 16 hours he could look at ESA

pmlindyloo

This is rather a difficult situation and much depends on the prognosis of his illness ie, how long he is on medication that means he cannot drive and how often he works. Basically, as regards benefits it is about hours and income.

So, options are (as I see it)

1. He stops work and claims ESA and adds his partner to his claim. He can do Permitted Work whilst on ESA but would need to work less than 16 hrs and complete a form to do this. He would lose any working tax credits (they need 24 hrs of work between them to qualify) On ESA they would get full Housing Benefit and Council Tax support (up to their circumstances) plus Child Tax credits and Child Benefit. All benefit departments would need to be informed of change of circumstances.#

2. His partner finds a full time job and he stays at home until fit to work.

3. He does part time work with his taxi and partner does part time work so that together they do 24 hours and can claim working tax credits.

It all depends on how much work he can do.

A difficult decision so they may need to play around with different scenarios on the benefits calculator.

Unfortunately claiming benefits can be very difficult when you are working sporadically so, depending on his illness, they might have to bite the bullet and make some hard decisions.

PS if he is leasing his cab then it might make financial sense to stop working if his income is less than his rental/lease payment.

[Deleted User]

When my now ex found self employed work, I was still able to receive tax credits (and working tax credits as well), and Housing Benefit, council tax benefit, and income support because he was initially earning less than £100 a week. I had to send in receipts every month to income support, with housing benefit I just went in, signed a form to say he was expected to earn less than £100 a week (income support receipt was probably the gate way for this) and that was it.

I was already receiving income support beforehand, but I'm pretty sure this will apply in your case.

Of course there may be more than £100 a week coming into the household, in which case the above won't apply.

If there is, I suggest they visit the debt free wanna be board and see if they can cut their outgoings.

Caz3121

income support would only apply for single parents or carers